DictionaryRoot: -atio
Latin

-atio

an action, process, or result

Forms

  • -atio
  • -ation- — Latin stem used outside the basic noun form.
  • -ation — Borrowed into English through French and Latin.

Origin

Latin -a-, associated with one class of verbs, plus the action-noun suffix -tio.

Note

The same formation can name either doing something or what the action produces.

3 / 398
A single crooked tile interrupts a regular straight tiled pattern.
noun

aberration

ab-uh-RAY-shuhn/ˌæbəˈreɪʃn/

A departure from what is normal or expected.

Etymology

An aberration was originally a wandering away from a path. That image became a departure from the normal or expected course, rather than necessarily a physical loss of direction.

Full entry

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